why are the lions making it so obvious that whisenhunt is who they want? are they even taking these other interviews seriously? they will look like idiots if whisenhunt gets a sweetheart deal with someone else and the lions miss out. just a bad organization, setting itself up for egg on the head again

_________________Jim Caldwell, on whether Jim Harbaugh is stealing his thunder: "Me? I don't have any thunder."

January 13th, 2014, 11:47 pm

jrd66

National Champion

Joined: February 10th, 2005, 6:52 pmPosts: 859Location: Linden, MI

Re: Coaching Candidates

Everyone seemed to have bought into the media story that Wiz was THE best fit for the Lions. If he really did want to swap the defense he lost a bunch of points form me. We will never know if the FO really Coveted him the way the press said. He may not have been as good a fit as they say, and I am not that broken up that he's not coming. I'm more interested in Caldwell than Munchak but I do not know much about Munchak in truth.

Wiz paid the big $$$ to get Kolb from Philly and gave up high picks to do it. We can pick apart anybody if we look a bit.

_________________OK. Schwartz is fired, the fans are happy, now what?

January 13th, 2014, 11:50 pm

njroar

Player of the Year - Offense

Joined: September 25th, 2007, 3:20 amPosts: 2908

Re: Coaching Candidates

The Legend wrote:

The Legend wrote:

why are the lions making it so obvious that whisenhunt is who they want? are they even taking these other interviews seriously? they will look like idiots if whisenhunt gets a sweetheart deal with someone else and the lions miss out. just a bad organization, setting itself up for egg on the head again

Except it's been all the media saying it. The Lions haven't said a thing. There's been leaks, but if you really look at them, the leaks have contradicted themselves and the media has been the ones to imply this was going to happen. Could it be true? of course, but it could very well be people WANTING it to be true more than the actual truth.

January 13th, 2014, 11:52 pm

inheritedlionsfan

Team MVP

Joined: January 13th, 2006, 4:18 amPosts: 3461Location: Maryland

Re: Coaching Candidates

Thought for sure we'd hire Whiz today. He seemed to be the best fit. I wasn't overly impressed with anyone else they've interviewed so it'll be a disappointment unless the new coach wins the Super Bowl.

January 14th, 2014, 1:27 am

liontrax

1st Round Pick

Joined: March 21st, 2005, 2:11 pmPosts: 1201Location: Wolverine, Mi.

Re: Coaching Candidates

If Whiz was truly the Lions 1st choice, why was Dungy talking to Ford on Monday? Maybe at that point the Lions saw the difference in philosophy with Whisenhunt (4-3 not 3-4). I could live with Caldwell as coach. God knows we've had to endure many bonehead HC's over the years as leaders of the Lions.Not ready to throw in the towel just yet and assume he is the choice. Don't see the need to make a hasty decision. Many potential HC candidates still coaching on play-off staffs out there. One of my early favorites was Del Rio. He fits most of the parameters we have been hearing they'd require.

January 14th, 2014, 10:49 am

thelomasbrowns

Pro Bowl Player

Joined: August 24th, 2010, 9:54 pmPosts: 2539

Re: Coaching Candidates

Ruh roh: Xanders interviewing with Miami:

I was wondering if the Xanders connection could make Josh McDaniels a dark horse candidate. There goes that theory.

_________________Jim Caldwell, on whether Jim Harbaugh is stealing his thunder: "Me? I don't have any thunder."

January 14th, 2014, 11:35 am

The Legend

Off. Coordinator – Joe Lombardi

Joined: February 11th, 2005, 3:01 pmPosts: 4080Location: WSU

Re: Coaching Candidates

thelomasbrowns wrote:

Ruh roh: Xanders interviewing with Miami:

I was wondering if the Xanders connection could make Josh McDaniels a dark horse candidate. There goes that theory.

If Xanders gets this gig we re back to the Mayhew/Millen of old - no coaching staff at the Senior Bowl, no Xanders...i have no confidence in Mayhew and Lewand and its a minor miracle that they were able to fire Schwartz without being fired themselves. the lions were widely considered the best spot for an NFL coach - instead of acting quickly they put all there chips in one basket, watched the top candidates go elsewhere and now are starting at the bottom of the barrel. if im the fords im giving Xanders a new title and 85% of Mayhew's pay to let him know he s a legit heir to the throne, and if the Dolphins want to hire him it might just be good bye to the residual Mil len left in the system and give Xanders the keys right now - then strike again by making Cowher/Dungy/Gruden the monstrosity offer that they ll require to come back to coaching

One of the things that sold the Lions on new head coach Jim Caldwell was the glowing recommendation of former Colts and Buccaneers coach Tony Dungy.

But before the Lions went there, they had to know if Dungy himself would be interested in the job.

Dungy told Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press that was among the first questions Lions General Manager Martin Mayhew asked, and he quickly dismissed it.

“He said, ‘I got to start this off, are you interested at all?’” Dungy said. “And I said, ‘No, Martin, I’m not.’ And then we went on. We were able to talk about what we needed to talk about.”

While the perception of many — and perhaps the correct one — is that the Lions settled for Caldwell, aiming high couldn’t hurt.

Caldwell worked for Dungy, and was his hand-picked successor, going 26-22 in three years with the Colts.

Dungy said he talked to Mayhew shortly after Jim Schwartz was fired, and spoke several times to team vice chairman Bill Ford Jr.

“One time we had a phone conversation and we just talked about what they were looking for,” Dungy said. “I really talked more to Mr. Ford about [Steelers chairman] Dan Rooney and the way Dan went about his search. Dan’s hired three coaches in 40-some years. They haven’t been big-name guys when they’ve been hired, but they fit the profile of what he was looking for, and that’s all I told Bill. I said I think from talking to Martin you’ve got a profile, you know what you’re looking for, get the guy who fits that. Don’t worry about what the media thinks, what the fans think, what anybody else thinks. Fill your profile and you’re going to be fine, and I think that’s exactly what they’ve done.”

Of course, Dungy would have filled a different profile, but it would have been a slightly higher one.